1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronic communication. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to systems and methods for blocking delivery of an electronic communication.
2. Background Information
Electronic mail (“e-mail”) users typically receive unwanted electronic mail. Sources of unwanted electronic mail include junk e-mailers. Junk e-mailers are also known as spammers, and junk e-mail is often referred to as spam. The Webopedia (see http://webopedia.internet.com) includes a detailed description of spam and the origination of the term. It defines spam as encompassing electronic junk mail and explains that spam is generally e-mail advertising for products or services sent to a mailing list or newsgroup. The Webopedia explains that spam wastes people's time with unwanted e-mail and consumes a lot of network bandwidth.
Newton's Telecom Dictionary defines spam as unwanted e-mail and explains that the term is derived from the canned spiced ham product that splatters messily when hurled. Likewise, electronic spam sent by a junk mailer splatters messily across a network, and recipients of the spam—who typically never requested the spam—are left to deal with the mess of downloading, receiving, or deleting the spam.
Another source of unwanted e-mail can be a source that once was not an unwanted e-mail source but became an unwanted e-mail source. For example, a user can sign up to receive informational e-mails. Around tax preparation time, a user may subscribe to a tax hints e-mail newsletter. The tax hints e-mail may be worthwhile to the user prior to filing of a tax return, but become annoying to the user after the tax return has been filed. Alternatively, the tax hints e-mail may not be what the user expected (e.g., too complicated, too simple, light on content and heavy on advertising, etc.). Notwithstanding a user's effort to unsubscribe from the mailing list, the tax hints e-mail may continue to be sent to the user due to technical problems of the tax hints e-mailer, delays in processing unsubscribe requests, or an unethical e-mailer.
A further source of unwanted e-mail can be a company that receives a user's e-mail address as part of a product registration process and then uses the e-mail address to send the user unsolicited product hints, upgrade offers, product newsletters, special offers, and so on.
A user may also receive unwanted e-mail from an individual. For example, a user can be one of two persons that were formerly friends, associates, colleagues, neighbors, dating, married, related, acquaintances, or otherwise associated. The user may no longer want to receive any e-mail from the other person.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a known system for processing unwanted e-mail. Computer 40 can be a computer or server of an unwanted e-mailer that sends an unwanted e-mail 50. The unwanted e-mail 50 can be sent to a user (e.g., user@network.net). The junk e-mailer can send unwanted e-mail 50 to an internet service provider (“ISP”) 60 (step 101). ISP 60 can send the unwanted e-mail 50 to a server 70 associated with the user (step 102). Server 70 can be a mail server associated with the user, a server of an ISP associated with the user, and so on. The server 70 then sends the unwanted e-mail 50 to a computer 110 of the user (step 103). Computer 110 can include a processor 111 coupled via a bus 112 to network port 113 and memory 114.
Processor 111 can be, for example, an Intel Pentium® 4 processor, manufactured by Intel Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif. As another example, processor 111 can be an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). An example of bus 112 is a peripheral component interconnect (“PCI”) local bus, which is a high performance bus for interconnecting chips (e.g., motherboard chips, mainboard chips, etc.), expansion boards, processor/memory subsystems, and so on. Network port 113 can be an Ethernet port, a serial port, a parallel port, an Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) port, an IEEE 1394 port, a Small Computer Systems Interface (“SCSI”) port, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (“PCMCIA”) port, and so on. Memory 114 of computer 110 can store a plurality of instructions configured to be executed by processor 111. Memory 114 may be a random access memory (RAM), a dynamic RAM (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, a flash RAM, polymer ferroelectric RAM, Ovonics Unified Memory, magnetic RAM, a cache memory, a hard disk drive, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, a magneto-optical storage device, or a combination thereof. Memory 114 of computer 110 can store a plurality of instructions configured to be executed by processor 111.
As used to describe embodiments of the present invention, the term “coupled” encompasses a direct connection, an indirect connection, or a combination thereof. Two devices that are coupled can engage in direct communications, in indirect communications, or a combination thereof. Moreover, two devices that are coupled need not be in continuous communication, but can be in communication typically, periodically, intermittently, sporadically, occasionally, and so on.
Memory 114 can include an e-mail application 115. An example of an e-mail application includes Lotus Notes® from Lotus Development Corporation of Cambridge, Mass. Another example of an e-mail application is Microsoft Outlook® from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. A typical e-mail application 115 can include a filter that examines an incoming e-mail and can take an action based on the setting of the filter and the content of the incoming e-mail. For example, a user's incoming e-mail is typically stored in an inbox folder 117. The user can establish a filter that sends all e-mail from a certain source (e.g., unwanted.sender@junkmail.net) to a junk folder 116. Thus, when computer 110 receives unwanted e-mail 50 from server 70, e-mail application 115 can include a filter that sends unwanted e-mail 50 to junk folder 116 instead of inbox 117. Computing and communications resources of computer 110, server 70, and the communications link between computer 110 and server 70 are consumed when unwanted e-mail 50 is sent to computer 110. In view of the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a substantial need exists for systems and methods that can advantageously provide for blocking delivery of an electronic communication.